Government shutdowns

Veritable Quandry

Specializing in derails and train wrecks.
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You are working from the assumption that Trump wants a border wall. My take is that he wants a fight over his border wall. He needs a focus of fear and anger to whip up his base, and he needs the news to be about HIM. If he gets the funds he loses his issue. And when nothing changes when the wall goes up, he loses again. He wins by prolonging the conflict, not by resolving it.

In that light it makes the most sense to sign a bill without the funds and then declare an emergency that will be tied up in court for years.
 

Kara Spengler

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You are working from the assumption that Trump wants a border wall. My take is that he wants a fight over his border wall. He needs a focus of fear and anger to whip up his base, and he needs the news to be about HIM. If he gets the funds he loses his issue. And when nothing changes when the wall goes up, he loses again. He wins by prolonging the conflict, not by resolving it.

In that light it makes the most sense to sign a bill without the funds and then declare an emergency that will be tied up in court for years.
It is a mess figuring out exactly what he wants. I doubt he even knows. If he gets a wall (whether new wall or refurbing existing structures) he will forever point to it and say he did that. Right now, without even anything built, he is already telling his cult that the wall is currently being built. I am not sure you can use any form of logic with him when he is willing to tell such a bald faced lie.
 

Jopsy Pendragon

If you can't dazzle'm with dexterity...
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Trump wants what Putin wants Trump to want.
The real question is ..what does Putin want Trump and McConnell to want?
.. he wants them to funnel obscene quantities of federal money over to their mutual friend Roman Abramovich for over-priced sub-quality Russian steel for 2000 miles of 'slats'.
 

Rose Karuna

Always cooking something up
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I live 20 miles from the Canada-US border. We used to go shopping in Bellingham every so often.

:(
Years ago when I lived in BC we used to drive into Bellingham and do a lot of our shopping at Jafco. There were more BC plates on cars at Jafco than were were Washington state plates. :LOL:
 

Porsupah Ree

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Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, writes on the consequences of the most recent shutdown, and cautions that they'll strike if it resumes.

In new government shutdown, flight attendants won't let passengers' lives be put at risk

There are serious issues we need to debate as a country, but our democracy and economy only work when the basic functions of our government are in place. It is immoral to put American lives in danger with reckless political games. There is bipartisan support to keep the government open with stable, long-term funding. Americans overwhelmingly support this solution. But if Congress ignores the will of the American people and take us to Day 36 of the shutdown, flight attendants will not risk the lives of our colleagues and our passengers.

We have a duty to protect ourselves and the American people from the danger. Working people have power when we come together. If Congress chooses the chaos of a continued lockout, we will use that power.
 

Khamon

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The Administration rolled out a "Finish the Wall" campaign in El Paso yesterday. That will allow the President to claim victory for convincing Congress to pay for the final stages of construction after he, personally, at great expense to himself, spearheaded the implementation and proof of concept. The Government will waste another $2B on the project but perhaps the rhetoric will dissipate.
 
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Jopsy Pendragon

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I kinda hope he goes for another shutdown.


Either his own party will oppose him, creating a schism among Republican voters (yay!)

Or self-interest will war with party loyalty among Republicans who suffer directly or indirectly over 10% more of this joke of a "border obstacle."

Either way, it might even be enough to flip the Senate and white house next election.
 
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Katheryne Helendale

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I kinda hope he goes for another shutdown.


Either his own party will oppose him, creating a schism among Republican voters (yay!)

Or self-interest will war with party loyalty among Republicans who suffer directly or indirectly over 10% more of this joke of a "border obstacle."

Either way, it might even be enough to flip the Senate and white house next election.
On the one hand, I agree that, if Trump forced another shutdown, it would do some irreparable harm to the GOP, if not fracture it outright. On the other hand, I really feel sorry for the federal workers who would get caught in the middle without a paycheck again.
 

Jopsy Pendragon

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On the one hand, I agree that, if Trump forced another shutdown, it would do some irreparable harm to the GOP, if not fracture it outright. On the other hand, I really feel sorry for the federal workers who would get caught in the middle without a paycheck again.
I feel sorry for some, but not a bit for the ones that voted for this blatantly obvious fuck up.

'We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning!"
 

Khamon

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Having listened to NPR, during the forty minute drive from day job to night job, I’m convinced that the rhetoric will not dissipate. How many times can the same reporters ask the same questions, get the same answers, query the same followups, and get the same answers!? Thankfully the drive home is after four GMT and BBC will be broadcasting world news.
 

Kara Spengler

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You know it is a real sign of the times when both sides have an agreement, donnie talks, and nobody is sure whether he will shut things down or not.

The frustrating thing is the only prudent move someone working in/with an affected agency can do this week is assume there will be a shutdown. If there is not, great, however if there is you are not caught unprepared. All that time spent preparing is mostly lost time if there is not a shutdown too.
 

Porsupah Ree

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